


Failure

by limeta



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Father-Daughter Relationship, Force-Sensitive Leia Organa, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Parent Darth Vader, inquisitor leia organa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26046748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limeta/pseuds/limeta
Summary: Inquisitor!Leia AULeia is sent to Alderaan to deal with two pesky Rebel sympathisers: her adoptive parents. In an AU where Leia is kidnapped off planet and sent down a road that leads her to Darth Vader from a young age, she is trained as his apprentice and learns the ways of the Force.
Relationships: Bail Organa & Breha Organa & Leia Organa, Leia Organa & Darth Vader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	Failure

Breha holds onto Bail’s hand. She feels the chill of failure climbing up her body, coiling around her throat, stopping any words that can come from leaving into the world. Bail squeezes her hand in his and grounds her in the moment, no matter how terrible it is.

Their home has been infiltrated by the Inquisitors. But not just any inquisitor. No, it is their worst nightmare come to life.

Brown hair that Breha has combed and taught how to be braided is tied back in a harsh, combative ponytail. Those brown eyes that have stared up at her from when she was a baby have turned into topaz cinders, full of venomous toxicity. There is no kindness nor childlike joy in them anymore. They have broken her baby, Breha chokes on her tears. She cannot force herself to be as strong as she has wanted to.

Her child stares at her with nothing but animosity. In her hand is a lightsabre. It is not turned on. Of course she is force sensitive. Of course she has not taken after Padme Amidala. Of course they have all worried that the Empire would find her.

’’Queen Organa, Senator Organa.’’ Leia addresses them. It has been years since they have seen her. She has grown up in front of their eyes. No longer the small ten year old girl escaping lessons on diplomacy and etiquette because they bore her. She is a tool, chiselled and sharpened by Empire hands. No, not a tool. She is a blade made from crystals that cut through any material, no matter its origin or its history.

Her pallor is alarming. Breha wants to ask Leia if she gets enough rest, if the kills and raids have gotten to her. She has heard what the Inquisitors do. They hunt down force sensitive children and kill them. Has that lightsabre in her daughter’s hand wavered over a child’s form? Or has it decisively rammed itself through a child, ceasing its cries? Breha hurts. Her chest hurts. Her words hurt. Her thoughts hurt.

Bail speaks: ’’Inquisitor Organa.’’

’’Leia. It is the name my mother has given me. She has not given me yours. Be aware of that when you speak to someone beyond your stature.’’

’’You are the Princess of Alderaan.’’ Breha speaks. She forces herself to be strong, shoves down the feelings of horror curling inside of her, threatening to destroy her resolve into tiny bits and pieces. ’’You are our child.’’ She refuses to believe that their child, their baby girl, has been warped beyond recognition.

Leia sighs. She’s banished anyone from the room once the takeover has happened. There are no storm troopers inside of the room. There are no additional inquisitors. Leia’s hand on the lightsabre handle twitches, as if she considers not drawing the blade out. ’’You are speaking about a person who does not exist anymore. Not since I was taken off planet and trained in the way of the Force.’’ She grinds her teeth together and it is such a familiar sight. When one takes away the eyes her birth father possesses, the stubborn gesture is all Padme. ’’It was my birth right to learn and you kept it away from me.’’

’’It was dangerous to let anyone know!’’ Bail shouts. He won’t stop fighting this until the very end. Breha stops him from taking another step towards Leia, holding his hand firmly in hers. They are each other’s tethers in this trying time. They must persevere no matter what happens next. It hurts Breha to realise this, but Leia is doing her job, and the Empire does not take kindly to a shoddy job done. If push comes to shove... Breha is not certain Leia will be able to shed the indoctrination of her recent years, the fear of failure hanging over her head and what kind of punishment may entail such a catastrophe. She is chilled to her core when the crimson light washes the room, emanating softly from Leia’s lightsabre. It is smaller than most, fit for her slender hands.

She looks as if she is quick on her feet, capable of fighting off many creatures at once if the need arises. There is not a single moment of fear when she wields the saber, aware that this is her right as a force user. ’’I understand this, Senator. I do.’’ Leia speaks and they hear the diplomacy lessons, the rhetoric, the diction, all of them have helped shape this girl in front of them. And she still is a young girl. A child, they want to say, but is a child a child if she has faced death many times?

’’Who sent you here, Leia?’’ Breha calmly asks.

’’I volunteered.’’ Leia bites out. She aims the lightsabre at Breha’s neck. Bail shouts, but Breha stops him from doing anything untoward. She feels no ill will towards Leia, only failure aimed at herself for not being there for this girl when she needed her most; for not keeping her under a more watchful eye; for causing her this much trouble in life and ruining it for her. Tears slide down her cheeks. She lets them, understanding that nothing can be stopped.

‘’How did you come into this life… I know you didn’t have any obvious signs of being a force-sensitive child.’’ Bail asks. He balls his hands into fists and thinks of how easily his child – his baby – has cut through his security.

‘’I was taken in to be a cadet. My training proved to be exemplary and I climbed to the top of my class. When your motivation, Senator, is to stay alive, you find that you are capable of otherworldly tasks. My Master came to see progress on the new generation of future stormtroopers, and only needing to see my training sequence and quick instincts deduced that there was something more to me. I fought him. I used the force not knowing that it is the force – and he realised what I was.’’ Leia’s face glows differently when one views it across the crimson shine of the lightsabre. ‘’He realised that you’d _taken_ me from him.’’

‘’Vader.’’ Breha’s voice chimes like the most deafening sound in the room, even managing to drown out the thrum of the lightsabre. ‘’Vader trained you.’’

‘’My father. Yes.’’ Leia nods. ‘’It is not my place to kill you, Queen and Senator Organa. It is simply my place to bring rebels like you to justice and let the Empire deal with you.’’ Her eyes glow harsher. ‘’Do not fight me. You will lose.’’

Breha and Bail have no intention of fighting her. They know that Leia is a strong force not to be reckoned with. It has always been obvious to them that there exists a great power within her, a power of a leader, of a rebel – of a commander, of a soldier – of a sith, even.

Leia leads them outside of the palace, to a ship that has landed. It is sleek, with Empire insignia plastered on its sides. Storm troopers stand at attention as they pass, keeping a respectful distance for Leia. She must have crossed up the ranks of the Inquisitors to demand such respect.

Breha and Bail still hold hands. They will not survive this. It is obvious to them, but they will not go down weak willed and tearful. Right now, in this presence of mind, they promise not to beg or plead for their lives. They will not reveal any rebellion secrets. Under any circumstances.

‘’What took you so long, young apprentice?’’

The voice causes Breha to waver. She almost lets go of Bail’s hand. It is unexpected. It is horrifying. The mechanical breathing fills the room and Leia doesn’t quiver in front of it how many stronger men and women may have. She simply cranes her neck up, because her Master is a giant of a man. More monster than man, Breha wants to correct.

‘’I was catching up with the Organas.’’ She whispers, a tinge of cheekiness there that Breha’s grown fond of remembering in her sleep, because she has not seen her daughter in such a long time. ‘’Surely you didn’t mind, Master? I know you had to do a maintenance check on the ship.’’

Vader doesn’t send any lightning at Leia, nor does he force-choke her. Bail and Breha have truly lowered their standards when it comes to what level of civility they expect from one Anakin Skywalker.

Leia calls back her lightsabre. Her voice returns to its business-like model from before. The one she’s used to keep her head cool and her demeanour frosty. ‘’Queen Organa and Senator Organa, known rebels, have been apprehended. I have brought them to you for interrogation. Should I set course for Coruscant?’’ Leia’s mischievous twinkle returns, for just a moment. ‘’Should I make sure we get there on time for the Emperor’s briefing while you, my Master, handle the rebel sympathisers?’’

‘’You are not piloting the ship.’’ Vader inputs the course himself and turns on the autopilot, all while telling one of the more experienced storm troopers to keep an eye out.

Leia scoffs. It’s rather childlike of her. Breha reminds herself that, age wise, her Leia is a child still.

‘’I had the highest scores on my piloting tests, if you don’t recall.’’

‘’Thank you for reminding me of your ability to pilot a tie fighter. This,’’ Vader gestures to the ship they find themselves on right now, ‘’is a wholly different spacecraft.’’

Leia thinks about saying something, opens her mouth to say, realises it may not be a good idea in front of so many people, closes her mouth, crosses her arms, narrows her arms, and THINKS it at Vader.

On his way past Leia, Vader flicks one of his fingers at her forehead. He tells the Organas that he will be merciful if they cooperate. Somehow, Breha and Bail are capable of sensing the oozing sarcasm. He has waited for years to get them for something, and Leia’s mere presence as a force-sensitive child in their care proves that they have ties with the rebels. They have stolen his child from him and no amount of cooperation will stall his anger and the pain he wishes to inflict upon them.

And Breha, realising that she hates Vader much more in this moment than she ever has, because he shows that he is capable of civility and respect, that he is fond of Leia, spits venom in a language of his dead wife: _‘’Padme would hate what you’ve become.’’_

Vader doesn’t pull back. He chokes Breha until she can’t breathe, and then when Bail attempts to stop him for hurting his wife, he turns his power onto him.

‘’You have no right to speak her name in my presence.’’ Vader hisses. His hands shake with anger. He orders one of the storm troopers to drag the prisoners to their cells. He will interrogate them once they awaken.

Leia holds her hands into tight fists by her side. She does breathing exercises to calm herself. The topaz slowly fades to brown. She looks away from Vader, when he asks her if she is all right. Her force presence is erratic, he reprimands her. ‘’You must not be so scattered. The Emperor can sense it and he will take advantage of any weakness.’’

Then Vader grasps her hand in his. It is truly small when compared to such a mechanical giant like Vader. Leia shudders another desperate breath, hoping to catch it. This has been her hardest task yet. The Emperor has sent her to Alderaan, wanting to check if she is capable of following orders of the Empire. If her rebel family means anything to her still, or if she has truly become a proper Empire wielded sabre.

They are alone in the cockpit of the ship. Vader sends her a message through the force. They must be strong. Now they are together at last and for Padme they must be strong and defeat the manipulations of the Emperor.

It is they, father and daughter, who will rule the entire Galaxy.

Leia hugs him. And Vader, tentatively, hugs her back.


End file.
